Agassi on the verge of big loss

Wimbledon has lost six of the 16 men's seeds in the first three days - and now Andre Agassi is in danger of going out, too.

Agassi, the 1992 champion and No. 13 seed, was trailing two sets to one against Germany's Tommy Haas when the second-round match was suspended because of darkness Wednesday night.The American Agassi was furious over a line call that helped Haas win the third set.

A forehand by Haas was ruled good, even though replays showed the ball clearly out.

Agassi stabbed the spot where he saw the ball land, then approached chair umpire John Frame.

"It was nearly six inches (out)," he protested. "It was out both ways. It was wide and it was long."

Frame shook his head and the call stood, giving Haas a 6-3 lead in the tiebreaker. Agassi saved one set point, but succumbed on the next to fall behind 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).

Play was then suspended, and Agassi resumed his protest.

"In 12 years, I've never seen it miss that much," he said to Frame.

The Centre Court crowd jeered the umpire and linesmen as they left the court.

With the match resumes today, Agassi will have a lot of work to do to reach the third round.

Pioline, last year's runnerup, was eliminated by Switzerland's Marc Rosset n a 3-hour, 53-minute marathon that ended in semidarkness. The fifth set lasted 78 minutes and ended 13-11.

Rusedski pulled out before the resumption of his match against Mark Draper, who was up a break in the third set when play was suspended by rain Tuesday. Rusedski, a quarterfinalist here last year, is still troubled by the ankle injury he suffered at the Queen's club tournament two weeks ago.

Rusedski's attempts to play led to an acrimonious split with Tony Pickard, his coach for the past nine months. Pickard announced he was dumping Rusedski because of a "total breakdown in trust and communication."

Two players with much to prove, Jennifer Capriati and Goran Ivanisevic, enjoyed morale-boosting victories Wednesday.

Capriati, whose career was disrupted by injuries and arrests for shoplifting and drug possession, hadn't played at Wimbledon since reaching the quarterfinals in 1993. She's entered only five other Grand Slam events since then - and lost in the first round each time.

Hoping to kick-start her career after a series of aborted combacks, Capriati asked for a wild card a week ago, and Wimbledon officials obliged.

On Wednesday, she made the most of her chance by beating Australia's Nicole Pratt 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

"I have to believe in myself," she said. "I believe that I can go all the way. If I don't believe that, I see no point of me being here"